Begin Again
by The TO
Summary: After her defeat at the hands of Raiden, Frost finds herself alone in a forest. Worst of all is that her cyber body is gone, replaced with flesh and blood. What will befall the apprentice cryomancer on the world of Remnant?
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is mostly just a story idea that wouldn't leave me alone. If it gains traction I'll continue it.

* * *

I awoke to a burning pain in my lungs. Every gasp felt like fire, every breath was agony. I got to my feet, still shaking with the effort that it took to breathe. It was like my lungs were unused to the breaths that I was taking. Then I remembered that they were. I felt my neck, noting not only the lack of armor, but the lack of the seam where my head connected to my cyber body. In fact, every part of me that was not covered by a white t-shirt and skirt combination was flesh and bone. My cryo magic still came to me, as easy as ever, the familiar chill bringing a mote of comfort in this foreign body.

"Raiden," I muttered under my breath. He had been the one who had taken my moment of glory away from me. My ultimate triumph over that bastard Kuai Liang. I had failed Kronika. Instead of the ever present hot fire of anger, or the smoldering heat of hatred, I felt only the cold chill of despair. Unbidden, a sob escaped me. I collapsed to my hands and knees. Everything I had ever done in my life, I had failed at. Everything. From the cage matches where I was used and kept on a leash to now.

Kronika had said that not even Raiden could stand up to my power, that I would be able to easily best him, and return to her, victorious, for my life in the New Era. It seems that she had been mistaken. But, then again, everything else that I had seen her predict had been correct. Yet she was wrong here. Suddenly, it dawned on me. No, she was not wrong. She had lied to me, sacrificed me to delay Raiden and his allies with my cyber Lin Kuei. She too, had used me to her ends, before discarding me like trash.

A sharp pain on my left arm shattered my train of thought. Acting only on instinct, I froze my attacker and shattered them with a punch. I turned to see a large, black bear. Or at least what one would look like without a head. The bite wound on my arm bled freely, but a short pulse from my cryo magic stopped that. A roar drew my attention to another black bear. Though it looked… wrong. Like someone had taken the visage of a bear and mixed it with a demon from the Netherrealm. It's red eyes unnerved me. With practiced ease, I forged the ice daggers that were my mainstay weapon. The bear bellowed another roar and charged with reckless abandon.

"Pathetic," I growled as I dodged its swipe and slit its throat. The bear collapsed and as I walked away, thinking my quarry defeated, a hammer blow to my back knocked the wind out of me. I could do nothing but lay on the ground, gasping for air, reminded of the failings of a flesh and blood body. The bear took a few shaky steps towards me before falling dead. I blasted it with cryo out of spite. My breath was still coming in haggard wheezes for about another minute more. By the time I could breathe normally, I was already a long way from that small clearing.

It was strange. I was fighting creatures that wouldn't be out of place in Hell, but they were in a seemingly ordinary, almost serene looking forest. In my time before, and with the Lin Kuei, I traveled many places on Earth, but never had seen anything resembling these creatures there. It didn't feel like Outworld had either, and I had been told that the Netherrealm was an inhospitable hellscape. I always thought that when people died they were sent there, and not wherever this was.

The possibilities were making my head hurt, so I decided to get my bearings for now. A quick climb to a tall tree told me that civilization, where ever it may be, wasn't anywhere near me. Instead I saw forest, stretching at least to the horizon. Anger welled up in me. My first thought was that this had to be another one of Kuai's trials. I doubted that he had the capabilities to restore me to human form so completely without my knowledge. Even with all of his allies, I doubted that he would go to these lengths just to dump me here. More likely they would have just executed me and been done with it.

So it had to be something or someone else. The who, why, and even when eluded me, leaving me empty and enraged. Another one of the creatures entering my line of sight broke me from my thoughts. This one looked skinner, almost lanky compared to the bear. It had similar features to the other one: the same white mask, black skin, and piercing red eyes. I started to form my ice daggers, before deciding to take a more direct approach. The creature charged and I matched it, I dodged it's clumsy swipe before sending a punch into the vulnerable part of its neck just behind where I could see the skull.

Pain flooded my arm. It felt like punching solid steel. With a barely suppressed whimper, I retreated from the beast. It seemed to grin at me in jubilation at my failed attack. With a snarl, I fired a beam of pure cryo at it from my other hand, freezing the beast solid. Even through the permafrost-like substance, I could see the pitch black fur of the creature, it's glowing red eyes still fixated on me.

"Not so smug now, are you?" I taunted, poking the beast on its frozen snout. With a cry, I plunged an ice dagger through the bottom of its head into its brain. The beast, of course, didn't react. I left it where it was and continued in the direction I had been heading. Though the whole act felt moot as there was no way of knowing whether or not I was heading towards, away from, or parallel to any village, town, or city.

It was painfully obvious that I was no longer on Earth. There was a feeling that permeated the air. It was like a watered down version of the feeling that I had when I was next to Kronika's Hourglass. Sheer magical power, almost overwhelming in nature, dulled down to almost imperceptible levels. It was like nothing I had experienced on Earth or Outworld. Then, there were the creatures that attacked me. It was almost as if they were malice and hatred given form, not dissimilar from Kuai's brother. A chill ran through my body at the mere thought of that monster.

Another half hour of walking and I had yet to find anything even close to resembling shelter. I did, however, find a fresh water stream that proved drinkable. Or at least I hope it was. Forming a glass made of ice had been a simple matter, though it took three attempts to get the right thickness to keep it from cracking upon being exposed to the water. Not sure when or if I would find another source of fresh water, I created a canteen out of ice, filled it with the fresh water, and froze the entire thing. I fashioned a strap using a chunk of fabric from the stomach area of my shirt.

The sun was dipping closer to the horizon. It was becoming more and more likely that I would not find civilization before nightfall. Given that survival training had been a non-factor in my time with the Lin Kuei, I had zero practical knowledge on how to build a shelter. To that end, I found a particularly overgrown area and went to work creating a small shelter out of ice. I took bits of foliage and placed them over my temporary housing in order to better conceal it.

By the time everything was relatively set up it was well past dark. I had stripped over a dozen branches of their leaves and piled them together to form some modicum of a bed. My canteen got placed in an area just outside, away from the wall so it wouldn't freeze together with them. A tinge of pain ran through my back as I laid down, undoubtedly from a bruise that had formed from when that bear struck me. The pain didn't even bother me, I had dealt with far, far worse. The chill of the air created by my shelter brought an almost homey feel to the ramshackle thing.

I felt the familiar feeling of mental exhaustion set in almost immediately. It had been months since I cyberized my body, and I had not slept once since then. Been knocked out or shut down for maintenance yes, but never voluntary sleep. The sensation almost felt alien. This body was going to take some getting used to.


	2. Chapter 2

I sat bolt upright, a vague feeling of fear slowly fading away. Though the memory of it was slipping away, I knew that my nightmare had involved Raiden in some way. The mere thought of that 'god' set my blood boiling. Before the feeling could take over, I stamped it out with several deep, calming breaths. Those beasts from yesterday had seemingly responded to my brief moments of rage. I didn't know if it had merely been coincidence, but if it wasn't, there was no way I could fight for however long it took me to find civilization without keeping my emotions in check. I turned over, wincing as pain shot through my left arm. The bite that I had received yesterday was showing signs of scabbing over, but still felt extremely tender. I could only pray that it wasn't infected.

When I reached for my canteen, I was greeted only by the makeshift strap that I had used to carry it. It seemed that while I slept the canteen had melted. I sighed defeatedly and stood up, careful to use my good arm.

"_Remember Frost, our magic lets us control the cold in _all_ forms. Be that in creating it," A ball of ice appeared in his hand. "or destroying it." The ice melted into water, which splattered on the ground._

Anger surged through me at the unbidden memory. One of Kuai's lessons that I hadn't cared enough to pay attention to at the time, but it seemed now it would aid me whether I liked it or not.

"I guess you get the last laugh after all, bastard." I grumbled as I focused on creating an orb of ice in my hand. The small sphere weighed heavily in my hands as I steeled myself. Like it or not, I was dependent on at least this one lesson of his to survive. I focused on how it felt to turn water vapor to ice, and did my best to reverse that reaction slowly. That was how he had described it.

It worked, to an extent. The ball of ice fell apart – but not into water. Instead it turned into snow. I frowned, annoyed. Still, at least snow was better than nothing. I tossed the modicum of powder into my mouth and swirled it around, letting my natural body heat melt it. Once I had repeated the process two more times, the third actually giving me slush instead of snow, I slung the now useless sash over my shoulder and continued heading in the same direction I had yesterday.

Despite my nigh-inhospitable living conditions last night, I felt more energized than ever. It was all too tempting to hunt some of those creatures from yesterday for sport. Or meat, given that my stomach rumbled angrily. I couldn't remember what I last ate let alone _when_ that was. My cyber body only ever needed fuel, never nourishment. When the Cyber Initiative was at its highest productivity, victory seemed almost inevitable. Now though, it all seemed so… pointless. A waste of time. Nothing I had done seemed to have an effect on Kuai Liang and his allies.

With a cry of frustration I blasted a nearby tree with cryo, the petty act serving to alleviate some of my pent up anger. It seemed that either I'd underestimated the strength of the trees, or put far too much power into my attack, because the part that I had frozen suddenly cracked loudly. The tree began to tip over, broadcasting a terrible cacophony of splintering wood that would undoubtedly draw the attention of more of those beasts. With a huff, I quickened my pace and hurried away from the scene.

Another hour of mindless walking later, I was starting to get bored. The terrain so far had literally been nothing but trees with the occasional clearing. My urge to break something else reached its climax right as I heard the familiar sound of an explosion. Not from the direction I had been heading, but rather from behind me. Typically, explosions meant people, and people meant civilization. With a little help from my powers, I ascended one of the taller trees around me. In the distance, I saw a small pillar of black smoke billowing up into the sky.

I hopped to the ground and took off at a full sprint, hoping to reach the source of the explosion, or at least whatever vehicle they had came here on, before the beasts overwhelmed them. It took several minutes to reach the source of the smoke and by that time whoever caused it was gone. Surrounding the fire were the corpses of a different type of creature, this one resembling a pig, that seemed to be dissolving into a black mist. From what little I could discern, the inky blackness had a faint feeling of magic. Dark magic. Even Bi Han had been more pleasant to be around than this stuff. My stomach twisted, and I fought to keep bile down.

"What the fuck are these things?" I muttered under my breath. One of the pigs had been blown in half, and where there should have been intestines, there was solid, red flesh that too was evaporating. I took several steps back, wanting to observe what was happening, but not wanting to be too close to it. Less than a minute later the bodies had dissolved completely, leaving no trace. Anything like this couldn't be natural. Someone or something had made these beasts, but for what purpose? As if beckoned by the thought, a memory popped into my head.

"_Watch your tongue, Frost." Came Liu Kang's biting reply, his glowing red eyes boring into me. I had just undergone cyberization and it was still difficult to move at times._

"_Why should I? How can a bunch of mindless demons be useful to Kronika? They are just as likely to attack us as they are Raiden's allies." I spat. Liu Kang tensed for a reply, but was immediately cut off as a massive wave of power washed over us. Kronika had returned. The weight of her presence had lessened now that I was cyberized, but it was still staggering. _

"_Please rise, Frost. Your reverence is unnecessary." Kronika said with a small smile. The effort it took to ascend to a standing position was immense. Liu Kang had seemingly little trouble with it. Then again, he and the other revenants were Shinnok's creations. They were imbued with a terrible power all their own. "Now then," Kronika padded towards us. "What seems to be the issue?"_

"_Frost does not believe that the demons of Netherrealm will fight for us."_

_Kronika turned her gaze on me. "Frost." Though she had only said my name, her tone spoke volumes. "Liu Kang and Kitana are the rulers of Netherrealm. The demons will do what they are commanded to." I swallowed instinctively, despite not technically having that particular body part anymore._

"_I- I'm sorry." I bowed my head. Kronika placed a gentle hand under my chin._

"_Your concerns are not unwarranted. Though the demons of the Netherrealm are indeed mindless, as long as Liu Kang and Kitana are in control they will not turn against us, and they can be guided to crash upon our enemies like a tidal wave." Kronika's too bright eyes stared into my own, an almost mocking smile on her face._

The memory had reinforced my theory that there was a, if not controlling, guiding force behind these creatures, but it also revealed an ugly fact. I hadn't realized it at the time, but I had been _afraid_ of Kronika. Of her power. Of what she would do to me if I hadn't reactivated the cyber Lin Kuei to serve as part of her army. She had approached me one day, with honeyed words promising me a place in her New Era, offering to make me Grandmaster of the Lin Kuei that I had grown to call family, despite my exile. Even now, who knows how far away from Earth, the thought left a bitter taste in my mouth.

I put aside all thoughts of Earth for now, in favor of following the source of these dead creatures. A quick circle around the clearing told me the direction that the person, and it was a person, had gone, noting some crushed plant life and snapped twigs that marked a clear cut path further into the forest. Given the size of the footprints I was following, the person was undoubtedly either a short man or woman. After a few minutes of carefully following this person's trail, I realized that they were either making no attempt whatsoever to cover their tracks, or they were doing so purposefully in order to lure and potential tails into a trap. Given the remoteness of the location, it was likely the former.

I tracked them for what felt like hours, and given how the sun changed position from over me, to almost at the horizon, it was indeed hours. Hours of staying quiet, following someone who could be friend or foe, wore on me in a way that I had never endured, even before I became Lin Kuei. This body I had was weak, frail. The pang of hunger was constant and I had yet to find anything edible. Right when I was about to give up and go charging forward, I spotted a camp fire in the distance.

"Finally," I muttered under my breath. The heat during my trek had been almost overbearing, liberally dousing myself with cold water every so often had only stymied it. I climbed up to a tree a short ways away from the campfire, hoping to catch a glimpse of the person that I'd been trailing.

There wasn't a fully clear line of sight, but I managed to see someone, dressed in mostly black with a brown cloak concealing most of their features. The fire spat gray smoke into the rapidly darkening sky. I could barely make out a small pack next to where the person was sitting, and several silvery objects next to the fire. Undoubtedly they were some sort of food that the person was heating-

My thoughts were interrupted by a loud, sharp crack, and it was with growing horror that I realized it had come from the branch that I was currently sitting on. There was only a brief moment of monumental dread before I started falling. Panic overrode all my instincts as the ground grew closer. I closed my eyes and my mind blanked for a few seconds. When I was able to think straight again, I was laying on the ground clutching my arm.

Three fingers on my right hand were bent backwards at an unnatural angle, sending waves of pain up my entire arm. Miraculously, that seemed to be the only thing wrong after having fallen ten meters to the ground.

"Who's there?" I heard a feminine voice call out from the direction of the fire. Fuck, this was bad. Using my one good hand, I crawled backwards into a bush a short ways away from where I landed. A moment later I heard the distinctive click of what I thought was a gun cocking. Very, very bad. Without having any time to lose, I gently gripped the pointer finger, and yanked it back into place. I barely suppressed a howl of pain, and shook my head to get rid of the white sparks that were suddenly dancing in my vision.

A string of hushed curses left my mouth as I gripped and repeated the process with my middle finger. It took everything I had not to scream out in pain. My hand was trembling as I reached for the ring finger, tears blurring my vision at the edges. Taking several, rapid deep breaths, I pulled. I didn't know if I had done something wrong on the third one, or if it was just my body telling me 'no more', but it hurt many times worse than the previous two. A scream of pain left my lips, and I blacked out.

When I regained consciousness, the pain in my hand had receded to a dull throbbing. There was a thick bandage binding all four of my fingers together, preventing individual movement. I also noticed that the sky had gotten completely dark, and the source of light wasn't the sun, but rather a roaring fire. My mind went into overdrive. That woman had found me. She left me untied, obviously not seeing me as a threat, and by extension likely had no malicious intent towards me. Meaning that she probably didn't know who I was.

"Hey." A soft voice called out from near me, making me jump. I turned to see a tanned woman, bright brown eyes beaming warmly at me. I scooted away from her slightly, despite everything I had seen so far telling me that she held no ill will towards me. "I put a bandage on your hand. I saw the bruises and figured that you had dislocated your fingers. My students do that during training sometimes. I don't have an ice pack handy for it, but the splint should help at least." At my continued silence, she added "I set a can of stew out for you. It should be plenty warm by now. All I have to drink is water that isn't very cold." She held out a bottle of water for me.

I licked my lips, only just realizing how dry my mouth was. I accepted the bottle and with a subtle application of cryo, downed half of the now chilled water. It tasted a lot better than the water I had made using my powers. A satisfied sigh left my lips as I put the cap back on the bottle and set it down next to me. "Um," I swallowed thickly. "Thank you."

She handed me a piping hot bowl of food. "You're welcome."

The contents of the bowl looked to be chunks of meat, potatoes, carrots, and other near indiscernible vegetables, covered with a thick, beefy stock. The smell was almost overwhelmingly good. Despite being from a can, it tasted better than anything I had eaten in recent memory. Before I knew it I had emptied the bowl and was funneling the remnants into my mouth. I pulled the nearly cleaned out bowl away with a satisfied sigh. The food sat warmly in my gut. I placed the bowl on the ground and leaned back against the rock, content to simply relax.

"I'm guessing that you liked it?" She asked with a coy smile.

"Yeah it's better than anything I've had in years." Despite it being the truth, I didn't know why I said that. It wasn't as if I was trying to make friends with this woman.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" Her next question was carefully worded, as if something she would say would set me off. I blinked confusedly for a moment, before realizing that she must mean the wound on my forearm.

"Oh, this is from one of those bear creatures. Nothing too bad." I hoped that my answer had satisfied her, but she looked all the more upset at it.

"That's not-" The woman grimaced. "I meant that you look like you haven't had a good meal in a while, and you seem like you're running from someone or something."

"What are you getting at?" I asked impatiently. This line of questioning wasn't something that I was comfortable with.

She floundered for a moment before elaborating. "I've seen victims of abuse before and-"

"You think I'm a victim?" I muttered lowly. The woman recoiled slightly at my harsh tone. "You dare-" With a growl, I stood and manifested my twin ice daggers. "I am not a victim!" I bellowed at her. "I am a Lin Kuei warrior! I-" Realization at what I was doing set in. Wordlessly, I turned and headed for the forest, ignoring the woman's calls to come back. The daggers fell to pieces and I found a spot to hide within a bush. She passed by my spot several times before giving up. I let out a breath I didn't wasn't aware that I had been holding.

Who was she to say that I was someone to be victimized? Sure this body may be skinnier and scrawnier than the one that I was used to, but that didn't mean that I wasn't strong. I leaned against the tree and let my arms fall limply to my sides, bumping something in my pocket on the way. I fished out a small compact, or at least the mirror half of it anyway. At first I had wondered if this belonged to the woman. A moment later I realized that I had never even bothered checking this clothing for pockets. Out of curiosity I held it up to my face, expecting to see the same almost scowl that I had grown accustomed to using as my default expression.

Instead I saw me, as I was before I had gotten roped into the cage fights: a scared, hopeless orphan. I had the same hair and eye color, but that was where the similarities stopped. My face was slightly gaunt, as if from lack of proper nutrition. My eyes were soft and the pupils were slightly dilated. My hair hung down almost to the top of my neck. I looked scared, something that I loathed immensely. Given all of that, it was easy to see how she had mistaken me for a victim of abuse of some kind.

I tucked the mirror back into my pocket with a sigh. Undoubtedly my outburst had raised more questions than I was comfortable dealing with, so I settled into the bush and did my best to relax.

About five minutes later, I realized that I wasn't going to be getting to sleep here. Reluctantly, I stood and headed back to where I saw the crackling fire. The woman was leaning on the log opposite my rock, fighting to stay awake. She started when I accidentally kicked one of the loose tin cans laying near the fire.

"You came back," She cheered with a tired smile. "I was starting to think you had left." I plopped down a few feet away from her and stared into the fire, choosing to remain silent. We stayed like that for a few blissful minutes before the woman spoke up. "Do you feel like talking?" I shot her what I hoped was a flat glare for a few moments, before turning back. "Ooookay then."

Thinking about Earth had, so far, been a fast track to losing my temper, so I decided to observe the mystery woman instead. What little I could see that wasn't concealed beneath her cloak told me that she was physically fit. She had a lean, runner's physique instead of a bulky fighter. No obvious weapons, and nothing that looked like it could cause an explosion of the magnitude that I had seen. Her sword was likely sequestered away somewhere, just within reach should something attack.

"You're staring." She noted. Rather than responding, I just turned away from her. It seemed like she had finally had enough of me ignoring her. "Can I at least get your name?" She exclaimed exasperatedly.

I sighed in resignation, figuring that she wasn't going to give up until I answered her. "Frost."

"I'm Amber." She tossed me what looked like a rolled up sleeping bag. "And I'm also taking first watch, so get comfortable." I stared at the pack and shook my head. At least I'd be able to sleep somewhat better than last night.

* * *

The crack of thunder started me awake. A thick fog hung over everything, barely letting any light from the sun through. The fire had gone out sometime while I slept. I looked over to where Amber had been sitting the night before, only to not find her there. A glance around camp revealed no trace of her at all. Even the empty tin cans were gone.

"Amber?" I called out hesitantly, hoping that she had simply packed up and was doing something nearby. No response. Something was definitely wrong. I summoned my ice daggers and-

They didn't come. I felt no inkling of the cryo magic that existed within me, no matter how desperately I called upon it. Panic set in as I continued searching the thick fog for any trace of my new acquaintance. "Amber!" I yelled out desperately.

"Frost!" a voice replied, but it wasn't Amber. Lightning crackled over the familiar form of Raiden. He brandished a bladed staff, fixing me with a malice filled glare. I was defenseless. Fear welled up in me as I backed away from him. "There's no running this time." His voice carried nothing but pure anger towards me.

"No," I shook my head in denial. "No no no no. This can't be happening." I tried once more to desperately create something, anything to help me against Raiden, but the only cold I felt was the cold chill of terror. "No!" I screamed and took off running away from him, darting into the tree line. With a blinding flash and crack of thunder, Raiden appeared in front of me.

"You cannot escape me, Frost." He lashed out at me with his staff, narrowly missing me. Lightning flashed out in a stream from his weapon, carving a smoldering path into the ground. A scream tore its way out of me as I sped off in another direction, hoping with everything I had that he couldn't catch me. Raiden teleported in front of me once more, knocking me backwards onto the ground. Before I could move, he planted a foot on my chest.

"Go away! Please go away!" I begged, my breath coming in frenzied gasps as I desperately attempted to push him off. It was like his leg was solid steel, it wouldn't budge at all. He leaned forward, applying pressure on his leg. I screamed as the pain threatened to overwhelm me. He was going to crush me if this kept on.

"You will pay for your crimes a thousand times over, Frost." He raised his weapon over his head, blade angled towards my neck. "Starting now." The blade descended.

* * *

"No!" I saw clear blue skies overhead. Frantically, I felt my torso for any sign of damage and found none. I slid backwards out of the sleeping bag, planting my back against the rock. My breathing started to slow down. I held one of my hands aloft in front of me, almost afraid that if I tried to call upon my power, it wouldn't answer. A well of cold within me rolled dangerously, and I suddenly knew that it wasn't fear. Ice spread across my hand, creating mist as it interacted with the warm air.

A sigh escaped my lips. "Oh thank the maker." I whispered to myself. Slowly, an orb of ice built itself in the air over my open hand. I laughed, half in triumph and half in relief. With a motion, I launched the orb into a tree. It exploded, covering almost half of the tree in ice.

"What the Hell was that?" I turned to see Amber, carrying an armful of firewood, a dangerous look on her face.


	3. Chapter 3

I awoke with a groggy moan. My entire body hurt, and my stomach burned terribly. It felt like I was underwater with how difficult it was to move my limbs. What happened? Last I remember was being in the forest with Amber and… nothing after that. Had she attacked me? Was that why I was seemingly in a hospital room? I reached up to rub the sleep out of my eyes-

-only to be stopped by what appeared to be a pair of handcuffs restraining my left arm to the bed. A bolt of panic shot through me. They had imprisoned me? A glance around the room revealed no guards, and the door was wide open. The only thing stopping me from leaving was the damnable handcuffs. In theory at least. Physically, I could barely muster the strength to lift my own arm let alone walk out of the room. It almost felt like I had been drugged.

This only further fueled my need for answers. Out of desperation, I called upon my cryomancy in an effort to freeze my bindings. I felt the familiar power surge up within me, only to fall away before anything other than condensation appeared. It seemed that whatever plagued me, was also limiting my power as well. My head slumped back in resignation. Wherever I was, I was definitely trapped.

"Oh, you're awake." A familiar voice spoke from nearby. Amber was in the doorway, an open book in her hands. Strangely enough, she didn't sound upset or angry in the slightest at my wakefulness. In fact she sounded downright pleased. It didn't sit right with me. "The doctor said that you'd wake up any day now." She walked over to me and sat down in a chair that faced my bed. "Of course that was almost a week ago."

A week ago. "What do you mean a week ago?" I asked suspiciously. What had happened to me to cause this? Amber seemed confused at my question.

"You don't remember what happened?" Her soft voice asked in disbelief. I shook my head in the negative. She took a seat in the chair against the wall opposite my bed. "Well, um." She started, licking her lips nervously. "You were almost gutted by an alpha beowolf. A pack attacked us in the camp." The word 'beowolf' triggered a memory.

_I shot an ice blast at the huge armored wolf and, to my great surprise, it dodged, using its momentum and the frozen ground to slide right underneath. Out of desperation, I fired at the area in front of me, hoping to form a wall of ice that would impede it. My hastily erected barrier didn't even slow the beast down as it plowed right through it and lashed out at me with a massive claw. My only saving grace was a last minute dodge to the side that still gave me a trio of cuts on my abdomen._

The memory faded as fast as it came on. I placed my freehand over the bandage covering my midsection. "I-" The area was still sensitive, as just barely touching it sent a spike of pain through my stomach. I hissed and hastily withdrew my hand.

"The wound wouldn't stop bleeding, so I had to cauterize it." Amber gave me an apologetic smile. My first instinct was to glare at her, but I felt too physically drained to do anything. "Then, of course it got infected, and the doctors spent three days treating you until they deemed you stable enough to rest in this room. You're in Beacon Academy, a Hunter school in Vale." She held up a hand and lamely gestured around the small, sterile room. "The doctors would have unlocked your aura, but they didn't want to risk complications, saying that you at least needed to be conscious for it."

"Unlock my aura?" I asked confusedly. What the Hell was this woman on about?

"It's-" She started, seemingly on autopilot, before scrunching her face in confusion. "You… don't know what aura is?" Given how flippantly she spoke about it, I assumed that aura was a common enough term that even the most uneducated pleb would know of it. I had no idea of anything on this world, so my best bet was to feign ignorance to the best of my ability.

"No. My temple was fairly isolated from the rest of the world." I spoke honestly. The Lin Kuei temple was practically as isolated as you could be on Earth, both in terms of distance and extreme weather. A pang of sorrow ran through me at the thought of my former home. As much as I hated Kuai Liang, Arctika had been my home for five years. To be exiled from it was heart wrenching.

"Was?" Amber repeated the word, a mote of skepticism in her voice.

"The grandmaster and I had a… disagreement. Shortly afterward I was exiled. It is part of the reason why I was alone in the forest." I decided that omitting the parts about my cyberization and Kronika would be for the best. This world was likely untouched by her machinations, so bringing them up would only arouse suspicion. I turned my attention back to the handcuff currently restraining me. "Um, would you mind?" Was my question to Amber, tugging on the offending piece of metal.

"Sorry, no can do." Amber answered, making my worry surge up once more.

"But why?" I asked. Anger and panic surged to the forefront. I pulled on the restraints once more, adrenaline gifting me with a modicum of strength. My magic flowed into the cuffs, allowing me to snap them with some effort. "You can't keep me here, you-" Sheer agony flared up in my stomach as I leaned forward. The urge to use my magic to soothe the wound was tempting, but my effort might only exacerbate it.

When I finally looked at Amber, she was aiming her staff at me, the white gem at the end closest to me glowing ominously. "If you had let me finish," She said with a huff. "I would have said that you were practically on death's door a couple days ago and need time to recuperate." The pain had flooded out what little adrenaline I had, my former lethargy returning stronger than it had before. I cursed myself for being so weak. My head plopped back onto the pillow and, unable to remain conscious anymore, promptly fell back to sleep.

The next time I woke, the room was dark. The only sources of light being soft starlight coming from the window and the glowing white clock that read 11:57. All I could hear was the steady beeping of the heart monitor. Time eluded me, I could have been asleep this time for a few hours, or several days. I had dreams, this time. Dreams of my time back home in Arctika, of training with Kuai and the others. They reminded me of happier times, of better times.

It seemed that ever since I sought to subvert Kuai's alliance with the Shirai Ryu, my life had been nothing but one setback after the next. After everything that had happened, I honestly couldn't remember the reason why I had tried to ruin their alliance in the first place.

"_The Hourglass contains the Sands of Time, which guide the destiny of the realms and every soul therein." _I had asked Kronika about her Hourglass once, and gotten that in reply. It set my mind racing. Could _she_ have been the one to set me up for failure after failure in my endeavors to stop the Shirai Ryu and Lin Kuei alliance? No, there was no doubt about it. Kronika was controlling the destiny of everyone in all the realms after all. She had altered fate, which got me exiled from my clan and drove me straight into her waiting arms.

But what if this wasn't the _first_ time she had set me up for failure? She claimed to have restarted history innumerable times, and what if she had set me up for failure every single time, inevitably driving a wedge between myself and Kuai? Forcing me to exile countless times. If that was the case then where did it stop? Had she been responsible for me ending up in the fight club, getting battered and nearly killed several times a week before eventually allowing me control over my cryomancy? Had she killed my parents too?

A choked sob escaped me at the thought of my parents. My father died when I was an infant, leaving my mother to support me on her own. 'He was driving home from work and got killed by a drunk driver' was how my mother had put it. Then there was my mother. She was a kind woman in a bad situation. Looking back on it now, I was a complete and utter brat. I didn't see the damage I was doing to her until I had killed her, but by then it was too late. The memory sat in my mind clear as day.

"_I told you a hundred times, no! You can't go to Monica's house. It's too cold out." My mother's exasperated voice bit out. _

"_But mooooom, you know the cold doesn't bother me." I whined. The doctors had no clue why I was still alive when my body temperature was a full fifteen degrees below the norm. I later learned that it was my cryomancy that was responsible. The only problem I had growing up were summers. Anything over 85 degrees and I was practically cooking alive. Thankfully we lived in a place where it didn't get that hot too often._

"_Your… unique gifts aside, it would be irresponsible of me to let you go outside when it's ten degrees in a t-shirt and jeans." She fixed me with a stern look that told me she wasn't changing her mind. My frustration multiplied until I let out an aggravated growl._

"_Fine!" I shouted and stomped up the stairs to my room. About five minutes later, I snuck out a window and went to my friend's house anyway. I didn't realize it at the time, but this was the first time that my cryomancy manifested itself, resulting in the death of my mother_.

After I left Monica's house, I got home to see a dozen police cars surrounding it. None the wiser, I walked up and that's when I found out my mother was dead. Frozen solid, causing massive cellular damage that no doctor alive could fix. A few months later, I ran away from my orphanage and spent a year on the streets. After that I was picked up by a man who ran an underground fight club. He raised me until I was fifteen, taught me to fight, and put me in the ring against other fighters. For three years I suffered almost daily beatings, sometimes nearly to death.

On my eighteenth birthday, I learned the truth of how my mother died. It was when I fully realized my power. By that time, I was too angry at the world to care about her fate. I finally had the power to carve out my own place in the world! That had only lasted a couple of months, before Cassie entered the ring. But it had been the greatest two months of my life so far. I was unbeatable, untouchable. At the end, I think that even the man running the deathmatches started to become afraid of me.

The sound of footsteps snapped me out of my thoughts. It was still nighttime outside, so it was likely a guard or nurse making their rounds. I slumped my head back and pretended being asleep. Soft high-heeled feet entered my room. So it was a nurse, likely checking up on my condition. I heard the footsteps stop right at the end of my bed. There was a few seconds of silence, followed by "Are you just going to keep pretending to be asleep?"

It was with a reluctant sigh that I opened my eyes. The pink haired nurse was giving me a sly half-smile. "Just so you know, I saw you moving around on the security camera in the corner of the room." She pointed to the corner to the right of the window, revealing a glowing red dot. "Anyway, back to the reason I came here." She leaned against the foot of the bed and took a deep breath. "See, the thing about fighting Grimm is that they're absolutely nasty. I mean that in the literal sense, since all wounds, especially bites, that are given by one get infected. Normally, this isn't a problem since the only ones fighting Grimm are Hunters, who's aura protects them and fights the infection." She gestured to my wounds. "In your case, the infection had been set in too long by the time we got to you, and the only reason you haven't died yet is because of the hospital's worth of antibiotics we've been pumping into you."

I could have died? Again? I glanced down at the bandage covering my abdomen, not liking the way my stomach churned. Amber said that the doctors wanted to 'unlock my aura'. Whatever that meant. The nurse's explanation made sense when parsed against what Amber told me. "So you're here to unlock my aura, is what I'm guessing?"

The nurse's smile grew wider. "Got it in one." She stood and moved to the right side of my bed, standing almost too close for comfort. "Are you ready?" Her expression turned from amused to serious.

"I wasn't told exactly _what_ aura is." I told her, wanting to know what I would be getting into.

The nurse hummed in thought for a moment. "Aura is, well. It's a lot of things to a lot of people. So I'm gonna give you the Hunter's definition. Aura is the soul made manifest. It acts as a barrier to those who would do you harm, and in some cases can be used as an offensive tool against your enemies. That's about as basic of a description as I can give, but you can read more in the Beacon library once you're back on your feet."

Aura seemed like something that would have been extremely helpful back on Earth. From the way she had worded it, I was likely to die if I didn't get my aura unlocked. This planet's creatures, the Grimm, were utterly unnatural and riddled with dark magic energy. That same energy is likely what was causing the infected wounds. There has to be a malevolent force controlling them: something or someone that had it out for the people of this planet.

I drew several parallels with Earth and with Kronika. Kronika had fed me lies and blinded me with rage against my clan. Against the man who took me in, spent years trying to teach me his ways, only to be spurned at every turn simply because Kronika wanted to use me to help usher in her 'New Era'. Even after all that, she likely would do it again in the next era, ad infinitum, slowly growing closer to but never actually reaching her perfect timeline.

But where did that leave me? I was on a planet that I knew almost nothing about, that in turn knew nothing about me. I had essentially been gifted a second chance at life. Should I choose not to have my aura unlocked, I would likely die and squander that chance. I looked the nurse in the eyes, and nodded. "Alright."

The nurse's smile returned. "Okay. Now I'm gonna need you to close your eyes and focus on taking deep breaths." I did as I was told, feeling her press a pair of fingers to my temple. "Next you're gonna need to concentrate what you hold closest to your heart." She must have sensed my confusion, because she added. "It's so you can focus on something that's fundamentally _you._ It's to draw out your aura." My breathing took on a steady rhythm. In, out. In, out. The something that made me _me_ was obviously my cryomancy. I wouldn't be where I was today without it. Then again, my mother and even my father might still be alive without it. I might have had a normal, blissfully ignorant life.

A sudden sensation of falling came over me, instinctively causing me to open my eyes. I was back on the ship where I fought Raiden. Looking down, I saw that I still had my human hands. I wasn't cyberized. Across the deck I saw.. myself. Laying unconscious at Raiden's feet. This was after my defeat. To my right, Kuai walked towards the two of us. I instinctively fell into a fighting stance, before realizing that he was completely ignoring me.

"Such wasted potential." Kuai spoke sadly, staring down at my cyberized form.

Raiden let out a disappointed sigh. "The good she could have done, in command of these Cyber Lin Kuei." He eyed my cyber form with a heartbroken look on his face.

Kuai took a step forward. "_She _commands them? Not Sektor? If so, she is linked to them. They follow her thoughts!" My former grandmaster's expression turned hopeful. It seemed that the Cyber Lin Kuei were giving them a fight. More than I could have said for myself. Raiden walked around to stand above my head, hands crackling dangerously with electricity.

"Then let them follow her to defeat." He knelt and placed his hands on either side of my cyber form's head. So this was how I died. I watched, despair filling my chest, as Raiden's electricity seared my brain. As much as I had hated him, the expression on Kuai's face nearly broke my heart. He looked so defeated, like he had lost a child. I now realized that in a way he had. As far as I knew of, I was the only other cryomancer on Earth. No one else in the Lin Kuei could do what he and I could. He had done his best to raise me and teach me his ways and I had done nothing but thrash against his leadership and condemn his every decision.

A warmth bloomed in my chest and I looked down to see a bright blue glow covering my form. It was… amazing. Greater than I had felt when I first found my cryomancy. Next thing I knew I was back in the hospital room, the same glow fading from my real body and an almost cherry colored glow coming from the nurse. She was smiling brightly at me. "Yeah, the feel when its first unlocked is always the greatest."

That wasn't a lie. All of my former lethargy was gone, as was almost all of the pain in my abdomen. I started to get up, only stopping when the nurse placed a hand on my shoulder. "You should probably take the rest of the night to recuperate. You may be feeling like you can take on the world now, but unless you get a good night's rest you'll be feeling like Hell in the morning." Figuring that she probably knew what she was talking about, I just nodded in agreement. "Whew, I'm beat. If anyone hassles you, tell 'em Nurse Mayne unlocked your aura overnight. That's 'm-a-y-n-e'. Got it?" Another nod. "Good. Now you get some sleep, and I think I'm gonna do the same." With that over with, she exited the room and left me alone with my thoughts.

Raiden was the one who killed me. Not really that surprising, but I had figured that they had tossed me overboard into the Sea of Blood instead, letting that do the work for them. Raiden I could see doing that, but Kuai wouldn't be that cruel. It was strange. I knew that I should feel nothing but anger and malice towards him, but after seeing how _hurt_ he was at witnessing my death, I couldn't bring myself to.

Putting thoughts of Earth and the Netherrealm aside, I plopped back onto my bed. I took advantage of my newfound vigor and scratched all of the accumulated itches that accrued during my stay here. The next thing I did was lift the sheet to inspect the wound on my abdomen. Not wanting to risk taking them off, I poked at the wound ever so slightly. There was a pain like last time, but not nearly as severe. It was more muted than anything. A similar bandage adorned my arm where I had been bitten by that one bear creature. Bear Grimm, I guess was the proper name for it.

One side effect of having my aura unlocked it seemed was that my lost memories from between my nightmare about Raiden and now were coming back. The few snippets of a fight alongside Amber against a pack of wolf Grimm I remembered didn't tell me much, but there was a point directly after she confronted me that gave me pause.

Magic, pure and undiluted, that was nearly as strong as Raiden's. Amber had the capability to use magic in some fashion. All I had seen her do was a rather large fireball, but that couldn't have been the extent of it. It begged further investigation. Though that would have to wait until at the very least, tomorrow. Not only did I not have any clothes aside from a very conspicuous gown, but it would apparently result in 'feeling like Hell' in the morning. With that in mind, I laid down and did my best to get back to sleep.

The next time I awoke during daylight hours was much more subdued. I wasn't restrained, and there was actually warm food waiting for me. My room was empty, and the wall clock told me it was just after seven. I felt a lot more rested and rejuvenated than I had in a long time. The food smelled delicious. It was a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, toast, and orange juice that was devoured within five minutes. I couldn't remember the last time I had real, good food like this. Probably before my exile.

Now that breakfast was out of the way, and I was much more awake, I spotted a set of clothes on the chair where Amber had been sitting. My thoughts turned sour at the remembrance of that particular incident. The cold fear of captivity still sat within my consciousness. Evidently they had decided to go in the complete opposite direction and give me a free pass to explore or leave. The latter of those two options appealed to me greatly, but I knew that I couldn't just abscond after everything they did to save my life. That would be what a lesser person would do, and I was nothing if not proud. Though lately I hadn't had much chance to flex that proverbial muscle.

I dressed in the surprisingly well-fitting clothes, a pair of plain black slacks, a white button up t-shirt, and shoes that mixed both colors, noting that I felt practically no pain other than a little tenderness in my abdomen. A cursory test revealed that whatever aura was, it had no hinderance on my cryomancy. That had been my primary concern about this whole 'aura' thing. Magic is dangerous and unstable when mixed with incompatible types. From the stories told to me, when Bi-Han had been resurrected, he lost the ability to use cryomancy in favor of his shadows. I was afraid that that would happen to me if I had this alleged soul magic forced upon me.

As I walked, I noticed that wherever this was had been more designed with function that form. There were several areas housing paths in direct view of the outside that, when fortified, could provide protection from invading attackers. Life on Earth hadn't exactly been easy, but were things really _that_ bad off here that even a school needed to have emergency fortifications? My worries were far from alleviated once I got outside and saw that the entire complex was perched atop a massive mesa. In the distance I could see an expansive city, surrounded by an even taller wall.

Just where the Hell have I ended up? Creatures made of dark magic, a seeming fortress of a school, and now a city with a wall high enough to put the Netherrealm's castles to shame? Were conditions truly that bad in this world that it necessitated such extreme measures? The muted roar of one of the Grimm seemed to answer my question. Immediately following it were several nearby gunshots. In fact, it sounded as if they were coming from the forest beneath me. I ran to the edge of the cliff and scanned what little of the forest floor I could see. Several black blurs were rushing towards whatever made those gunshots.

A quick test of my cryomancy told me that it was more than ready for a fight. A grin split my face at the prospect of a fight. Thankfully it seemed that the mesa wasn't a straight drop, but rather a very sharp angle. With the aid of my ice, I created a path that allowed me to slide down the cliff, eventually reaching the forest floor. In the distance, I saw the shadowy blurs of the Grimm, those of the wolf variety if I wasn't mistaken. A spike of fear ran through me upon remembering how I had ended up in the hospital in the first place, but I quickly quashed it. No mangy mutts were going to get the better of me.

I reached the site where the Grimm were and saw a single human. A girl, with sandy blonde hair wielding what looked like a pump shotgun. She fired at one of the wolves, sending it flying backwards with a blast of concussive force. I took the opportunity to put and ice spear through its head and closed in on the rest of my targets. Rather than using my favored daggers, I opted for a weapon that I had learned how to use in my cyber body: a scythe. The simplistic looking weapon halved one of the smaller wolves at the waist, drawing the attention of half a dozen more.

"Come get me you animals." I growled viciously, eager for some payback. The wolf-like Grimm happily obliged. A pair of them charged me, while the other four moved to flank. Unfortunately for them, they underestimated the reach of my weapon and one of the two distractions lost its head. This prompted the other to back off to a safer distance, closer to its kin. Unfortunately for it, no distance was safe. I channeled an underutilized aspect of my cryomancy: teleportation. I didn't use it very often, as many of the fighters back home could do similar feats and had developed counters for it. These wolves likely had no such strategy.

In spite of this, the wolf I had chosen first still managed to try and swipe at me before I split it in two, crotch to brain. Another wolf used the distraction to lunge at me, but was quickly met with the business end of my scythe lodged in its head. I broke the blade off and tossed the sharpened handle at a third wolf, pinning it to a tree through the chest. The final two were clustered together, so I launched an ice blast at them, freezing them solid. No more foes presented themselves, leaving me grinning like a maniac. I let out a triumphant whoop.

"I guess that's enough for now, Sabia." An annoyed male voice called out from somewhere hidden. I wheeled around, twin daggers at the ready, to see the girl from earlier standing beside a man. He stood a full head taller than her, had deep red hair with matching clothing, and a massive halberd resting across his shoulders.

"Yeah, too bad this bitch had to ruin our fun." The now named Sabia harrumphed and started walking away with her friend. What the Hell did she mean by 'this bitch'?

"Excuse you?" I asked incredulously, causing the pair to turn back around.

The male spoke this time. "My girlfriend could have handled it. You just spoiled her fun, dumbass." Was this brat serious?

"I heard gunshots in the woods and figured that someone was in trouble. Next time I'll just leave you to the wolves instead if that suits you." I spat. How dare they insult me like this. I help them and this is the thanks I get? I'd killed people for less, but I get the feeling that their disappearances wouldn't go over well with whoever ran that school. So, in lieu of freezing them where they stood, I turned and started back towards the cliff.

Or at least I would have, had I not suddenly been waylaid by Sabia. Where she once held a shotgun she now had a smaller version of the weapon that the man was using, though it was closer to a spear than a halberd. Her weapon clanged loudly against my ice daggers. "What is your problem, girl?" Her face was contorted with anger.

"You ruined my fun and insulted my boyfriend." She growled, pulling away from me and… transforming her weapon back into a shotgun. They had transforming weapons? What purpose would that serve other than to increase the maintenance required for a weapon to a ridiculous degree? Then again, if her suspicions were correct and they didn't have magic like she did, perhaps the circumstances would require a do-it-all weapon. Though the transforming part seemed utterly unnecessary.

"If anyone should feel insulted, it should be me." I retorted snidely. Her friend was nowhere in sight, so I had to be wary. If this girl was petty enough to attack me when my back was turned, then I had to account for him being in the same bracket. She had her weapon aimed at me, giving me motive to kill her if I wanted to. Unfortunately, that idea didn't pan out, as someone else interrupted the altercation.

"Ahem." I turned to see Amber, unarmed this time. "Miss Chartham, please take your partner and head back up to the school. I think breakfast is still being served and if you hurry you might make it." The girl floundered for a moment before eventually acquiescing to her order and slunk in the direction of the cliffs. Once they had gone, she fixed me with a glare. "Why are you down here, trying to start a fight with students?"

A flabbergasted laugh escaped before I could control it. "Are you kidding? _They_ were the ones trying to fight _me_. I was up top taking in the sights, and heard gunfire. So I presumed that someone was in trouble and went down to help them." Really I had just wanted to do _something_ other than be stuck inside some strange building, and a fight was as good a thing to do as any.

"Be that as it may, you weren't supposed to leave the campus." She let out an exasperated sigh, before adding "Ozpin wants to meet with you." She headed off in a direction opposite of where the brat had gone, shutting down any chance I had of rebuttal. Despite the high of a fight still running through me, I followed. We walked for about five minutes, following the base of the cliff, until we reached a door. A very conspicuous door. Amber moved part of the wall, revealing a keypad. She punched in a very long combination, resulting in a dull, metallic clunk somewhere within the cliff. The door opened, revealing a small room.

Said room turned out to be an elevator that took us up to a small building at the edge of the mesa. There waiting was a pair of smartly dressed people, one man and one woman. "This is Headmaster Ozpin and Headmistress Goodwitch. They run Beacon together." Amber introduced me to the unorthodox pair. The man was comparatively simple looking compared to the woman, but what made him stand out was the magic that I felt from him. It was similar to what I felt in Amber, albeit much fainter. Given his advanced age, there was zero chance he didn't know about it. This headmaster was definitely one to watch.

He stepped forward with a small smile on his face, and extended a hand in greeting. "I've heard much about you, Frost." I reluctantly accepted the handshake, not liking the way that Goodwitch was looking at me. Once that spectacle was over, his hand returned to his cane and he continued. "Amber told me that you come from a remote settlement and don't have much knowledge of the outside world. She mentioned that you were exiled and can't return." She had said that? Given the circumstances I suppose that it made sense. I lacked knowledge on pretty much everything on this planet, save for what I had heard in passing or been told directly in the case of aura.

"Pretty much." I replied shortly.

"Well, I'd like to offer you a room at my school. You would have access to the same facilities that all students do, but simply be here as a guest." He said with a small smile. The offer seemed fair. In fact it was pretty generous on his part.

"And you're just _giving_ away room and board why exactly?" I asked skeptically. He had to have an ulterior motive.

This time Goodwitch spoke. "I'm going to be candid with you. Your abilities are of some concern, and should certain individuals hear of them, you would be in danger. However, we also have some further questions that can best be answered at a later date once you have fully recovered." That made a startling amount of sense. It seemed like these people were the authority behind this school, which looked practically like a palace compared to the city that I'd seen. They were obviously big players on this world.

"You mean whatever is making the Grimm right?" I asked, hoping to confirm my suspicions. Though, judging by their expressions, they either hadn't expected me to know that fact, or they themselves didn't know. "Where I'm from, magic users can sense each other. The Grimm have an incredibly dark magical signature. More evil than anything I've ever felt. Something like that doesn't exist without a force driving it."

"Please be discreet with that knowledge. If word got out to the masses, there would be more trouble than we could handle." The headmaster spoke quietly. A glance at the headmistress revealed that her expression had turned from cautious to outright suspicious at my words. On the outside, I kept a calm, indifferent façade. Internally, I was practically grinning with delight. That's right, I hold the power here. Not you.

I cleared my throat. "Anyway, if we're done here, I'd like to get something to eat. Amber mentioned that the school was serving breakfast. My power burns up a lot of calories." Despite the meal I had in my room, I was still ravenous. If I had access to real food for free no less, then you'd better believe that I was going to exploit it to the fullest.

Ozpin answered with a single nod. "Of course. Amber can show you the way." I turned to my escort, whom merely rolled her eyes and motioned for me to follow her. The cafeteria turned out to be one of the buildings on the perimeter of the school. Inside, there were only two people: a custodian and what looked like a teacher. I say _looked like_ because, despite being clean shaven and dressed in a suit, the face of Hanzo Hasashi was unmistakable.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I know this is a shorter chapter, but the next one will finally get into some of the changes that have happened.**

* * *

My first though was 'how in the Hell is he here?'. My second was on whether or not he would try to kill me. He seemed to be, if not a member of the staff here, then someone who was well respected. Given that they knew him well enough to leaving him seemingly alone with a non-combatant. "Hanzo, I'd like to introduce you to F-" Amber started, but I cut her off.

"Fiona. My name is Fiona." I asserted with what I hoped was a polite smile.

If the sudden interruption threw him off, he hid it well. "Greetings, 'Fiona'." He spoke, a small grin on his face as he gave a short bow. I glanced over at Amber nervously, who seemed to not even care that I had interrupted her. It was painfully obvious that my attempt to convey a false name was to no effect. He knew who I was. What he gained from following along with the farce I had no idea.

"Well, now that you're where the food is, I guess I can get back to work." Amber gave me a bright smile and started towards the door. The urge to reach out and stop her, if only so I wouldn't be alone with _Scorpion_, was overwhelming. Despite this, I held back and, without looking back at the source of my anxiety, headed over to the self-serve buffet. A set of footsteps behind me told me that Hanzo was following.

Tray in hand, I moved down the line, not paying the slightest bit of attention to what I was getting. My only thoughts were on getting food and getting the Hell away from Hanzo. It seemed he noticed this, because he pointed out "I'm not entirely sure that applesauce goes well with scrambled eggs." A look at my tray told me that he was right, I had inadvertently added both hash browns and applesauce to a portion of eggs. "Would you like me to get you another tray?" He asked politely, as if we weren't enemies whom had tried to kill each other on multiple occasions. When I didn't answer, he added "You seem nervous. What's wrong?"

Unable to stand it any longer, turned and fixed the Shirai Ryu with a glare. "You know damn well why I'm nervous!" I hissed, brandishing the applesauce-coated ladle as if it were a shiv. Upon realizing the ridiculousness of my weapon, I tossed it back into the buffet and took my tray to a table. Hanzo once again followed me, eyeing me as if I were a curiosity. His gaze evoked two emotions in me: a cold pit of anxiety, and the smoldering heat of anger.

"It's strange, seeing you of all people like this." He commented as I set my tray down on the table.

"_Me_ of all people?" I retorted with no small amount of venom in my voice.

He gave a short laugh. "Yes, considering that last time we saw each other, you were more machine than human." He wasn't wrong, as much as that hurt to admit. His words also had the effect of dousing my anger, leaving only despair in their wake.

"You mean when you were trying to kill me." I stated flatly, eyeing my tray of food with disdain and no longer feeling hungry.

"A lot of things happened after that. Chief among them is my death." What?

"You died?" I asked, more than a little curious at how that could possibly happen. He was stronger than Kuai by far, though Kuai had never admitted it to anyone else but me.

His lip curled in disgust, as if the thought of his death sickened him. "That wretched insect, D'vorah. She poisoned me. I had journeyed to Kharon's settlement to get him to lend me his fleet. My revenant self ambushed me, but I managed to defeat him and turn him back to my side. Unfortunately D'vorah had planned for something like that, and killed me. Before I died, I asked my past self to finish what I had started."

I was torn between being happy that he died and being upset that his death lead to mine. "Well, it worked." I bit out eventually. "Kronika gave us a ship to intercept your fleet. That's where I…" I trailed off, unable to finish the sentence. The memory of my death was still raw. I buried my head in my arms, taking a deep, calming breath.

"Frost." He asserted, making me flinch. "You have nothing to fear from me. Not only did I see you multiple times while you were in the hospital, but I have had a lot of time to think in the year and a half that I have been here." He's _what?_

Fixing him with an incredulous look, "You've been here for a _year and a half?_" I exclaimed. There couldn't have been more than a few hours between my death and his and somehow he's been here for that much longer than me?

A single nod was his reply. "That is correct. I awoke on the beach south of Vale, that's the large city you saw at the cliffs. Almost immediately I was beset upon by several Tamsah's. They are Grimm similar in appearance to crocodiles. After killing them, I made my way to the wall of Vale and was found by a team of students. Unfortunately, much like what happened to you, I received several wounds from the Grimm and ended up hospitalized."

"And they 'unlocked your aura'." I replied. Even now, several hours after the fact, it still felt weird to say. I had never heard of 'aura' like they described it in any form before today, meaning that it had to be something that was isolated on this planet. Like those Grimm creatures.

"Yes. They took me to the hospital in the city, and I had my aura unlocked just like you did. I also told them where I was from."

A frown appeared on my face. "Does… that mean they know about me too?" I asked with what I'm sure was a worried expression. "About" The words escaped me. My cyberization, Kronika, everything. It all felt like one big gaping wound that invoked an unfamiliar bitter chill in my chest. At the time, it had felt right turning against Kuai Liang, against Earth itself, to side with Kronika and help create her New Era. _My _new era. My chance to live how I wanted.

"I only told them who I was and where I was from. Nothing about the Lin Kuei or Kronika. I doubt very much that they would believe me if I did." Hanzo answered. Despite this, I was still worried. Worried that, his seeming cordiality aside, I would be outed as an enemy of his and hunted down. Worried that I would squander this second chance that I had been given. Worried that Kronika would randomly show up and wreak havoc on this planet like she had on the other realms.

"Frost." Hanzo's voice broke my train of thought. "It is alright. You are safe here. No one is going to hurt you."

The turmoil I felt inside me practically doubled, if not tripled. "I-" I started lamely. "I don't know. I need time. To think. To process everything. For me it's only been days since…" Words failed me, so I stood, leaving my food forgotten and made for the door. Unfortunately, my progress was soon hampered by that woman from before, Goodwitch. She blocked the entirety of the double doors, leaving me no way to get past her, save for teleporting. And I wasn't entirely sure that I was well enough for that particular feat again. It was bad enough the first time, my head still throbbed softly.

"Hanzo, there was a student in the armory asking for you." She called into the lunch room as if I wasn't even there. Wordlessly, Hanzo stood, taking my tray of food and depositing its contents in a nearby trash can. He headed to another door, though before leaving he looked at me and gave a single nod. Whether it was out of pity, respect, or something else entirely I didn't know. I still felt a burning, almost painful desire to run him through and freeze his stupid face. In spite of that feeling, I knew that I wouldn't. Or couldn't. Goodwitch followed through the same door that Hanzo departed, leaving me alone in the cafeteria. I still didn't feel like eating, and given that this was apparently a school, they were bound to have a library. If nothing else, I could familiarize myself with this new world.

It occurred to me about half an hour after I left that I didn't have any idea where the library was. Nor did there seem to be anyone around. I'd tried several doors, but they were all locked. It seemed like this school didn't have classes year round. After ending up back outside several times, I was beginning to grow frustrated. My cryo magic licked at my hands, since so far in my life any time I felt frustrated something ended up frozen. The inability to do just that was stifling. I took several, deep, calming breaths in an attempt to bring my temper under control.

"Excuse me," A small voice called out from behind me. The source of the voice was a short, orange haired girl. "I'm looking for the Headmaster. I was told to report to him." She seemed rather quiet and shy, especially given that this school trained warriors.

"Last I saw he was at the cliffs closest to the city." I replied, turning my back to the kid and thinking the conversation over. When I didn't hear any footsteps, I saw her still standing there, staring at me with a strange look on her face.

"Are you okay?" She asked, concern lacing her words. Okay? What the Hell did she mean by that?

"What?" I spat, almost wincing at how harsh I sounded. To her credit, she didn't even flinch.

Taking a step forward, she added "You look like you were about to cry." Cry? What? More out of curiosity than anything, I put a hand up to my face and sure enough it came away wet. The moisture froze almost instantly due to how tangible my cryo power was at the moment, turning into frosty powder.

A frustrated growl left my lips. "Look, kid. Go find the Headmaster and leave me alone." I didn't have the patience to deal with brats that thought they knew everything. The irony of that thought didn't escape me, considering I had heard Kuai say the same thing about me on more than one occasion. And didn't _that_ sting. Odds were that she was genuinely attempting to comfort what she thought was someone in distress and didn't mean any harm by it. Even more likely, was that the Headmaster knew exactly where the library was, so it would be 'killing two birds with one stone' as the idiom went.

Thankfully, she hadn't walked away yet. "C'mon kid. I'll help you find him." I told her reluctantly. The girl perked up and practically hopped after me as I headed outside. It was a short, five minute walk back to where I had last seen the Headmaster. The girl remained silent the entire way, either out of understanding that I didn't really want to do this, or that I wanted to be left alone. The Headmaster was still at the cliff edge and staring out at the city. She jogged over to Ozpin, whereas I remained a good distance away, content to silently contemplate my newfound fate.

Scorpion was here as well, by some twist of fate. Fortunately, he didn't seem to want to kill me nearly as badly as the last time we met. At least it seemed that way. The feeling was, in no way, mutual. Though as long as he didn't try anything, I wouldn't seek to. And didn't _that_ leave a weird taste in my mouth. It seemed like for as long as I had known him, I hated him. Now, everything I had strived for, sacrificed for, seemed practically worthless. All I had left was my cryomancy.

Speaking of, the sensation of cryo magic running along my arm hadn't intensified or diminished at all, which had me confused. I wasn't actively calling upon my magic, yet it seemed to practically be begging to be used. This was likely a side effect of my 'aura' being unlocked. What it meant, I honestly didn't know. My cryo magic had never done anything like this, not even when I first figured out how to use it. It was comforting, in a way. That the one constant that I had throughout my life was still here, even on a completely different planet in a completely different body.

During my internal musing, the girl had finished whatever she had come here to do and promptly left. The Headmaster had returned his seemingly aimless gaze out towards the city. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" He said a few seconds later.

"I've never been someone to enjoy the view." My focus had always been on training, getting stronger, building a life for myself. The Lin Kuei was the closest that I had come to that. At the time, I thought it impossible to coexist peacefully with the Shirai Ryu. That, inevitably, they would attack and kill more of us. I thought that, if I had ended Scorpion, then I would end the Shirai Ryu and the threat that they posed.

At the Cyberization factory, seeing how close Kuai and Hanzo had become as friends, how well they played off each other's strengths, it made me question why I had joined Kronika. A part of me saw that Kuai had been right: that peace with the Shirai Ryu was possible. The knowledge that I was wrong had only fueled my desire to hurt him.

"There's nothing wrong with taking some time for yourself." Ozpin added casually. "Even the strongest willed individual can suffer from burnout." Maybe he was right. Maybe I did need a break. After all, even before my transformation, the last time I had done anything to relax or just to have fun aside from the my brief bout as a champion fighter was… I couldn't even remember. On top of that, was that I had spent just over a year without sleep once I joined Kronika. That takes its toll on the mind and, as much as I am loathe to admit it, I'm only human.


	5. Chapter 5

I had nothing. No pressing concerns, no imminent doom or death on the horizon. I had no purpose in life. Perhaps that was why I had been sent here. I was essentially a blank slate, free of the shackles I had on Earth, both self-imposed and those forced on me by Kronika. It was confusing, distressing, and relieving all at once. I had nothing to hold me back anymore, yet I had nothing to drive me forward either.

Ozpin had gone back to the school some time ago, leaving me alone at the cliffside with only my thoughts to keep me company. Eventually I had decided to take in the sights, but my mind inevitably began to wander to the latest development I had encountered here. Namely, my suddenly extremely tangible cryomancy. Whatever this 'aura' was, it had seemingly enhanced my latent abilities to the point that I was forced to actively suppress my magic to keep from icing over. On Earth, such a power boost would have been a godsend, but here I had no idea what to make of it.

On one hand, having this power would make fighting these creatures of darkness much easier. Inversely, it would also paint a bigger target on my back to other people who were capable of wielding magic. Speaking of magic users, even now, I could sense Amber toiling away in the school as her power seemingly fluctuated with her heartbeat. Hanzo's hellfire was some of the most powerful magic I had ever had the displeasure of experiencing firsthand. Yet Amber made it look miniscule in comparison.

My hand clenched into a fist, shattering the thin layer of ice that had accumulated. Who was I kidding? I was as suited for relaxing and taking a break as Hanzo was for that suit and tie he now wore. A ball of ice formed in the air above my hand, coming more easily than it ever had before. I stared at the ice ball, taking much comfort from the deep cold it emitted.

"What the Hell am I gonna do?" I whispered to no one in particular. Upon command, the ice ball slowly shrank into nothingness. Perhaps my borderline oppressive cryomancy was part of what the doctor had said. After all it appeared that my power was influenced by aura. So, it was with a heavy heart that I put aside my restlessness and focused on a lesson that Kuai had often tried to drill into my head. As much as I still despised him, he had a point. One could only train the body so much, and such training was useless without focusing the mind. That was why I had lost against him.

I would never lose again. With enough training, enough preparation, enough practice, I would overcome every foe that would stand in my way. Even whatever was controlling those Grimm creatures.

Inhale. Calm. Focus on my power. Feel the cold. Feel the energy. Learn to control it. Restrain it. Relax. I exhaled and my breath was expelled as a haze. Inhale. Exhale.

Someone was approaching me from behind. I opted to disregard them in favor of my meditation. Inhale. Exhale.

"You know, I never thought that you would take one of Subzero's lessons to heart." Hanzo's amused voice nearly cut my concentration. Inhale. Exhale. Focus only on the power within.

There was a distinct sound of a sword being drawn. Ignoring this proved difficult, but I quickly realized that if he planned to kill me, then he would have already done so. Inhale. The sound of a sword whistling through the air. Exhale.

"Can I help you?" I spoke icily towards the intruder.

There was a loud click as Hanzo sheathed his sword. "Just wondering where you had gone to. And making sure that you aren't getting into any trouble."

"I have no reason to go looking for trouble." I replied, a wave of despair washing over me. "I have no reason to do anything." I refocused on my breathing, pushing the emotion aside. Inhale. Exhale. "My memories of Earth; they're all muddled by rage. I don't know how much of it is my own and how much is Kronika's influence." I heard Hanzo take a step forward, seemingly unsure as to what to do. "Before I got onto that ship of hers, she told me that of all the iterations of Frost that there had been, I was the best."

"At the time, her words had touched something in me. It made me feel… invincible. That I would board that ship, kill Kuai, Raiden, and everyone aboard, then return to her and take my rightful place in her New Era." My fist clenched with anger at the memory, inadvertently freezing over with my cryo magic. "Last thing I remember is fighting Raiden. I had thought I was winning, then-" I flexed my hand, shattering the thin layer of ice. "-nothing. When I first woke up, I had thought I died, but an attack by Grimm quickly proved me wrong. I was alive. And human. I didn't know what to do, so I just started walking. Eventually, I encountered Amber, and the rest you know."

"What brought this on?" Hanzo asked, clearly confused at my sudden talkativeness.

A heavy sigh left my lips. "I guess that putting it out there, saying it aloud, makes it _feel_ real. Like I'm not in some weird afterlife. I doubt that any circle of Hell I'd be going to would let me keep my powers." I stared down at the few remaining wisps of cold air extending from my fingers.

"Take heart, Frost. We would not be sent here without a reason. It is our duty to purify this world of its evil. And I believe that in doing so, you would be absolved of your past sins." As cheesy as his words were, he did have a point.

"Maybe," I said noncommittally. "What I do know is that I'm done for a while. No schemes, no crazy bullshit. I just want to train. To get stronger. My own way. Fuck everything else." I flung a loose rock off of the cliff. "I'll probably stick around here, at least for a little while. Don't think we're not still enemies just because we both died." I turned to glare at him, which he responded with a short chuckle.

"I wouldn't expect anything else from you, Frost." Hanzo shot me a smirk, then turned around and headed back to the school.

I spent a few minutes in contemplative silence, trying and failing to focus on my meditation. My frustration built until I slammed a fist down on the edge of the cliff in anger. Rock exploded away, cascading down into the dense forest below me. An explosive sigh left my lips and I stood. Getting angry over my own inability to meditate was counter-productive to what I was trying to accomplish. I needed something to calm me down. Normally I'd go fight something, but as the doctor had told me to take it easy today, that wasn't really an option. Perhaps I could find a spot to train in. Secluded, hopefully.

After about fifteen minutes of wandering around, I finally ran into Glynda, who pointed me in the direction of their practice area. She was even courteous enough to give me guest access to the facilities. There were over a dozen rooms, all relatively large in size. I picked the one furthest from the entrance and headed inside. Thankfully, there wasn't much in the way of actual training equipment in here, so I didn't have to worry about accidentally breaking anything. If anything, it seemed that this room was more suited for two people to spar against one another.

Regardless, it would suit my needs perfectly. I took a deep breath, held it for a few moments, and released it as I began to practice katas. This was something that I used to do daily when under Kuai's tutelage but had forgone in the last few years of my time on Earth in favor of helping Kronika to reactivate the Cyber Lin Kuei. Going through the familiar motions was oddly relaxing. It brought me back to a simpler time, where I wasn't at war with seemingly the entire planet.

Several hours later, I had grown bored. The sun was now almost below the horizon. With a sigh, I left the room, making sure to lock it back like Glynda had told me to. Despite having been exercising for quite some time, I still had yet to feel fatigued. Aura truly was a miraculous discovery.

I decided that I wanted to know more about where I was staying, so I set off to explore the vast and cavernous school without any guidance. Not long into my wandering, the smell of food cooking lured me back towards the cafeteria. Thankfully, it seemed that most of the occupants here were students, and Hanzo was nowhere in sight. The only adult here was a tall, dark haired man leaning against the wall opposite the food. I filled my tray up with a bowl of some kind of beefy stew, an apple, several sides of vegetables, and even an honest to goodness cupcake. I found a seat as far away from every other person as possible and dug in.

It was the best thing that I'd ever eaten. Even the dinner I'd had once I became a champion pit fighter paled in comparison. The meals I'd had at the Lin Kuei sanctuary were bland and more often than not consisted of rice with meat and vegetables. Once I had been cyberized, that particular need had been eliminated. There were times when I was serving under Kronika that I missed it, but I was more often than not too focused on one thing or another to even remember that I didn't have to eat.

In the here and now? I ate with all the passion and fervor of a person on the brink of starvation. Given that I had not only been in a coma for the better part of a week, and my first actual meal being ruined by Hanzo, it wasn't that far from the truth.

In too short of a time, I had liberally cleaned all the food from my tray. My stomach still rumbled hungrily, but I knew that I would have to take it slow. I hadn't had a real meal in this body up until now, and I didn't want to press it. So I ended up settling for grabbing a second apple as I deposited my tray by the trash area.

The sky outside was a deep orange color as I paced around the perimeter of the school. I had yet to run into any of the staff here since the cliff, so I had no idea where I would be staying. Instead, I began looking for a place to sleep. The front of the school had wide inverted arches that seemed to be my best option. I briefly entertained the idea of simply teleporting up to one but figured that it would be simpler just to climb it.

Once I had managed to do so, I discovered that the top part of the arch that I had initially thought was flat, actually curved inward to form a shallow 'U' shape. The incredibly smooth stone made an, if not perfect, then at the very least somewhat comfortable bed.

Unfortunately, before I could actually _get_ comfortable, I felt a pair of eyes boring into me. In the fading light, I could see a small, black, bird at the other end of the arch. "I'm not in your spot, am I?" I asked the bird rhetorically. It cawed once, as if to answer my question. I stretched, laid back, and took a bite out of my apple. "Well, too bad. I'm already comfortable."

On my walk around the exterior of the school, I had started to feel the familiar sensation of fatigue setting in. Laying down had only amplified it. I only managed to finish about half the apply before I felt sleep start to sink its hooks into me. The bird was still sitting on the end of the arch. "Here, you can have the rest." A bit bummed out that I had to waste the fruit, I tossed it into the grassy area to the side of the path. The bird cawed once and took off after the discarded fruit. With that out of the way, I leaned back against my impromptu bed and went to sleep.

A/N: Bit of a shorter chapter, but there's more well on the way soon.


	6. Chapter 6

The steel dummy folded from the force of my punch. Glynda's training had been… relaxing, compared to the training I had endured under Kuai. Aura had increased my natural strength and cryomancy by several orders of magnitude now that I'd had a modicum of training with it. I was fully confident that should Raiden ever decide to challenge me to a rematch, I'd be the victor.

Not that said rematch was likely to ever happen.

A misty sigh escaped my lips. Beacon's schooling was scheduled to start in a just a couple more weeks. Children had been flocking to the school in droves, numbering over a thousand already. It made secluding myself away from people that much more difficult. Though now that my teleportation came as easy as breathing, it wasn't _too_ much of a problem.

There was a soft hum as the air around my hand was flash cooled by my power. A beam of bright blue energy, far superior to anything I had ever conjured on Earth, impacted the bent dummy, encasing it in over a foot of ice. A thin cone of condensed ice materialized at the tail of the beam, striking the frozen dummy at center mass. The cone pierced almost ninety percent of the way through the steel, the tip coming to rest against the reinforced wall. I had no doubts that the cone would have kept going had the wall been made of brick and mortar.

A wave of satisfaction washed over me. The creatures of darkness stood no chance against my might.

Their master, however, still gave me pause. Salem. She stylized herself as a ruler, a queen. One so far above the common people that even _breathing the same air_ was a privilege in itself. Her creatures seemed to operate with a similar premise to a group of demons that I had once fought in Netherrealm.

Said demons were all almost physically identical to one another: large muscular forms, bipedal, horns, reddish-brown skin. The difference came in the white markings on their forehead. No two were alike. The comparison to the Grimm came in the fact that the more of them there were in proximity to one another, the more intelligent they became. There were certain individuals amongst them that bolstered that effect by an incredible amount. Where once there were half a dozen demons no smarter than your average dog, you suddenly had seven experienced fighters that could put most of the Lin Kuei on their ass. Fortunately, I wasn't most of the Lin Kuei. Together, Subzero and I scoured that particular breed of demons from existence. It was my first official mission as a full member of the Lin Kuei.

It had been the most fun I'd ever had. Nothing I'd done before that or since had compared. It was the first time I'd truly felt alive. Free. _Powerful._ Kuai had all but sung my praises at the temple the day after we had gotten paid and returned to Earth. The half-dozen warriors we lost in the fight against the demons was brushed under the rug. They had died a Warrior's Death. That was all that was asked of us aside from serving the clan.

The fact that Kuai had seemingly been complicit in my murder was- it hurt. Bad. For him to go so far against his morals, to the point where they denied me my proper death…

With another misty exhale, I pushed the thought from my mind.

As I exited the training area, I pressed the button that told Glynda there would be a mess that needed to be cleaned up. The Headmistress was surprisingly amicable towards my messes, saying it was a change of pace compared to the usual fire damage and bullet holes.

I checked my scroll, a small rectangular communication device that I'd received as a gift several weeks ago, and the time read as quarter to twelve. Just in time for lunch. My stomach rumbled an agreement.

After grabbing my small, yet filling meal from the cafeteria, I found a spot on the outskirts of the campus at the cliffside. I'd passed by a couple dozen students as I went, but I'd grown used to the stares. After all, I was too old to be a student and too young to be a teacher.

The faint roars of the Grimm had become commonplace during my mealtime, which was often followed by excursions into the forest where I killed a several dozen of the black beasts. I'd even encountered what they called a 'Death Stalker'. It had been an interesting, if a bit anticlimactic fight. I'd refrained from using my cryomancy directly against the beast for the first three quarters of the fight, opting to use ice-based weapons and my dexterity.

It literally could not land a single hit on me. To say that I'd been disappointed that one of the most fearsome ground-based Grimm was a complete pushover was an understatement. I'd even restricted my choice of weapons to small stilettos towards the end to no avail. Eventually the beast, covered with cuts and with half of its limbs missing, had simply laid down and accepted its fate.

"Hey," I was drawn out of my stupor by the rabbit-eared girl. I'd seen her a couple times on campus but she'd never actually approached me.

"What do you want?" I asked neutrally. The two months I'd been here had been an exercise in patience. I'd learned quickly that my usual manner of interacting with people outside the clan was lacking. The change had been jarring to say the least.

The rabbit girl shifted nervously. "Um, I had a question." I fixed her with a flat look, but otherwise didn't say anything. "Well, my semblance lets me copy how a person fights and… I was wondering if I could take a picture of your weapons."

What?

"My- what do you mean take a picture?" I placed my empty bowl of stew on the ground and stood.

"My semblance lets me mimic how people fight and my camera lets me create hard light projections of other people's weapons." She explained.

That… sounded like a really useful combination. The ability to switch up not only weapons but fighting styles on the fly would be enough to overwhelm even the most skilled of opponents. I was impressed.

With a flash of blue light, I materialized a pair of ice short swords. "What about these?" The girl inhaled sharply.

"You can make weapons too!?" The beginnings of a smile were forming on her face.

"Well, mine are made out of ice, not… hard light." Whatever that was. With a twirl, I shaved down one of the short swords into a stiletto dagger. Her eyes roamed over my body, as if she was searching for something.

"Where's the Ice Dust that you're using?" She asked, her brows furrowed in confusion. Oh, she thought I was using Dust.

Dust. Hadn't _that_ been a surprise to discover the existence of. Magic without magical inclination.

"Not Dust." I replied, a small smirk on my face. The weapons sublimated away and a ball of glowing, humming cryomancy formed hovering over my extended palm. "Don't touch it." I warned as she extended a hand towards the ball. I was told by the Headmaster that, should anyone ask about my power, I would tell them that it's my semblance.

In spite of the reserved look on her face, I could tell that she was positively enraptured by my power. I clenched my hand into a fist, de-summoning the ball and giving the girl a start.

"That's so cool." She beamed up at me, one hand idly gripping the strap of the camera hanging from her neck.

"You say you mimic fighting styles right?" She nodded enthusiastically. "Well, how about a proper demonstration?" I asked with a smirk and fell backwards off the cliff. The plateau where Beacon sat was only about three hundred feet higher than the surrounding forest, so four seconds after I had started my fall I formed a slide made of ice. My feet landed perfectly and I was launched horizontally into the forest. I flexed my power and teleported to the forest floor, landing about fifty feet from the cliff.

The girl awkwardly attempted to follow my path, being forced to abandon that route as she nearly collided with a branch. She used it as an impromptu high bar and launched towards the ground after two flips. She stumbled a bit, but otherwise landed on her feet. This girl definitely had potential. I shot another smirk at the teen and beckoned her onward.

Twenty minutes of walking later, I finally found some Grimm. Or rather, one single Grimm. A Death Stalker, larger and more well armored than the one I had fought. The girl, Velvet I learned her name was, seemed apprehensive at my wanting to engage it. I saw that its carapace was pockmarked with numerous scars and there were even some weapons still embedded in it. With a flick of my wrists, I materialized two swords, longer than the ones I had shown Velvet, and charged.

I built up speed and ducked under its initial strike, sliding under its vulnerable belly and sliced off its right front leg. Or I would have, but it seemed that this Death Stalker was made of sterner stuff than the previous one. As it was, my attack still bit deeply and almost rendered the appendage useless. It squealed in pain and attempted to backpedal. I used my swords as handles to pull myself out from underneath the beast and finish severing its leg. Thick, black blood oozed from the wound for a couple seconds. It bellowed again, this time with rage. I leaned back, avoiding a strike from its tail that carved a deep furrow into the ground.

The swords melted away and I materialized a scythe. I hooked it over the tail and pulled myself up. The bone armor was too thick to cut, but the joint at the very tip of its tail wasn't nearly as robust. Now standing in a tenuous balancing act atop its largest appendage, I struck out with my scythe right at the joint where the stinger was connected. The scythe bit deeply but failed to sever it like I'd hoped. Worse yet, the weapon was lodged and I was forced to abandon it. I felt it start to rear its tail back, so I hopped off and created a long, thin javelin.

I launched the spear towards its many eyes. It struck home and popped one of the oversized organs, but not one of the main four. Its left claw came barreling towards me. I placed a hand on it and pushed, sending myself away from the Grimm and back towards Velvet. My feet touched down a short distance from the student, and the Death Stalker flutily tried to extract the weapon embedded in its eye.

That whole skirmish took about ten seconds.

I glanced at Velvet, who was staring at the large Grimm, a dumbstruck look on her face. "Shall I continue or should I just end it now?"

"Y-you can end it now?" I smiled at how disbelieving she was of my assertion. I reached out with a hand, focusing on the javelin. It started to thicken, gaining more and more mass. After about five seconds of growing, the weight finally got large enough that the Death Stalker collapsed to the ground. I clenched my hand into a fist, and the chunk of ice exploded. The head area of the Grimm was pulped and fragments of the chunk went everywhere. I sublimated any pieces that would have come close to the two of us, letting out a short laugh at Velvet's awed expression.

"You were j-just- just _toying_ with it." Was her breathless revelation. The Grimm had already begun its post-mortem routine, black smoke lifting into the air. I recreated the twin swords that I'd initially used in my fight.

"Now, if I'm correct, I believe you wanted a picture of my weapons?" I offered, smirking at her suddenly gung-ho attitude.


End file.
